Function over Fashion: A Gift Guide for Real Cooks
I will admit, I love paging through posh holiday gift guides: cheese platters of salvaged wood, matte pink and gold teapots, imported rice cookers sleek enough for MOMA, and linens sewn of fabrics nicer than most of my clothing. After I ogle for a few minutes I step back and ask myself, “Seriously? Who needs this stuff?”
I’ve always been a function over fashion cook. My kitchen counters are butcher block and stainless steel, patina’d with lots of love. My toaster oven is a $30 Black and Decker that makes kick-ass real toast. My aprons are usually bar towels and my pots and pans are workhorse All-Clad I’ve had over twenty years and they’re still going strong. My knife is even the one I bought to go to culinary school 22 years ago.
That’s my long-winded way of saying that, as a home cook, there are a handful of things you need, a few you should really invest in, and an endless list of them that are better left to catalogs and gift guides. Here is my list of must-haves with a few suggested places to grab them. If you have a restaurant supply near you, chances are you can find many of these items there, too.
Chef’s Knife, 8"–10": It’s truly impossible to tell everyone that one knife is best. I always say you should go somewhere that lets you hold the knife, maybe even use it while in the store. Weight and length preferences are different for everyone, same goes for handle build. My Wüsthof Classic Chef’s Knife is ideal for the average home cook — it’s holds an edge (which means that once it is sharp it stays sharp) and is weighted nicely. I am a firm believer in earning a ‘fancy’ knife. Starter and even accomplished home cooks probably don’t need to invest in an expensive Japanese or Japanese-style knife, yet. BUT, when you’re ready for that, my advice is to head over to Town Cutler and let them help you out.
Honing Steel: Not just for carving a Thanksgiving turkey, you should likely be running your knife on a steel every day. Remember that this doesn’t sharpen your knife but rather aligns the edges of the blade so your knife will perform better. A great test is to graze your chef’s knife over a tomato (without pressure). If it slices through the skin it’s in good shape. If it doesn’t, run it on the steel a handful of times and try again — you should notice a difference. If it is still really having trouble, then it is time to sharpen your knife (for that I suggest a whetstone, or taking it to a professional. Electric sharpeners will just eat away at your knife in no time).
Just a Couple Other Knives: A serrated bread knife and a few sharp pairing knives will get put to good use. Beyond that, save the money you’d spend on a big block of knives and put it towards that chef’s knife you need, or just some tasty ingredients to cook.
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls: Heavy grade stainless bowls are a must — have them in small, medium, and large sizes. Stainless is non-reactive so any acidic ingredients wont taste funky in them plus they don’t absorb odors and are very easy to clean and store. Restaurant quality is just fine here.
Bench Scrapers: I would be happy to entertain any spokesperson gigs for good, plastic bench scrapers. Flexible material is great as they work for transporting chopped ingredients from a board to a pot and for scraping out bowls. I also use mine to release sticky dough from the counter when kneading, to set under a cheese grater to catch the cheese, and to cut tender doughs when making things like biscuits or scones.
Pots and Pans: Different metals react to cooking differently so consider this info when you’re shopping: Stainless is an all around smart choice as it is pretty good at both conducting and retaining heat. Copper conducts like a champ but doesn’t really hold heat (and it can be reactive when you cook anything acidic). Cast iron takes a while to conduct heat but retains it better than anything else. Nonstick is fine for eggs or pancakes but otherwise don’t use it. Heavy bottomed pots and pans are key to make sure things cook evenly and don’t burn quickly. My own set is All Clad and I’ve never had any issues, but there are lots of choices out there. Many are multi-layered metals to maximize both conduction and retention of heat (a plus). Side note, a medium cast-iron skillet is a bonus for the perfect sear on protein and ultra crispy potatoes.
Enameled Cast Iron Pot: This is the pot that says you mean business — you’re cooking slow and low, probably for a crowd, and whatever comes out in the end is going to taste amazing. I adore Le Creuset and have a large oval Dutch Oven that will be the second thing I grab (after my dog) if my house burns down. People also love Staub and even the Martha Stewart brands of enameled cast iron (I haven’t used either but buy what you like). They work on the stove, in the oven, and are gorgeous taken to the table, too.
Flat Wooden Spatulas: Deglazing a pan, stirring mirepoix, and sautéing veggies are best done with a wooden spatula. It doesn’t need to be expensive but should be flat and not too thick on the bottom. Don’t put it in the dishwasher (it’ll crack) and have a backup, I feel lost without mine. Rubber spatulas are great for mixing batters or scrambling eggs but they are kind of the little sister to the big sis wooden sibling.
Bar Towels: OK, so maybe these aren’t the fancy tea-towels you put out when friends come over but they work so much better. Buy a big pack and always have a few out when you’re cooking.
Kosher Salt: I wont get into ingredients much here but a small dish of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt should be on your counter, next to the stove, at all times. Full stop.
Delis: We store everything in delis at the cooking school and I do the same at home. They are an efficient use of space, easy to store, and they all use the same damn lid. Cheap and easy to find at any restaurant supply store. Pro tip: get yourself some painter’s tape to label them.
Y-Peelers: Buy a three pack and use them until they’re no longer sharp. Approximately one thousand times better than a classic peeler.
Quarter Sheet Pans: Classic ‘cookie sheets’ are what professional cooks call ‘half sheets’. Restaurants stock full sheets, half sheets, and the coveted quarter sheets. As a home cook I find this size ideal for pretty much anything — roasting a chicken, cooking a piece of fish, baking a batch of biscuits, or sneaking those last few balls of frozen cookie dough into the oven. You can find eighth sheets too, which are also pretty fab.
Microplane: For powdery Parm, feather-light citrus zest, and even tiny shavings of chocolate, a sharp Microplane is essential. I prefer the type with no handle — more grater to use, but they do get dull quickly so make sure yours is nice and sharp, or buck up for a new one.
Tongs: Watch any professional chef in a restaurant kitchen and you’ll see tongs everywhere. Short us picking up delicate food, your tongs should be at the ready almost any time your sauté pan is on the heat. I prefer the type that don’t lock — heavy grade stainless, 10–12 inches.
This is by no means a finite list. What you cook and how you cook will obviously create a need for more tools. Just shop smart — it’s easy to get taken in by the glitz and glamour of kitchenware but so much of it is unnecessary. Questions about what else you might need? Ask over on Instagram and I’ll do my best to help.
Happy shopping, and happy cooking!
Jodi Liano
Founder over at San Francisco Cooking School
